Hello everyone. I have so many questions and concerns. The message board has already been very helpful to me.

I'm 46 and have been considering the surgery for about an year. My bmi is 39.5, so I think I can put on the extra couple of pounds to qualify for the surgery without too much trouble. :wink2:

I went to the doctor's seminar the other night. It ended up discouraging me more than anything else. The doctor who spoke is the head surgeon, and he's not very supportive of this procedure. He is top in his field in gastric bypass surgery, and he highly recommends it over Lap Band. He has surgeons in his practice that perform the Lab Band surgery though.

A couple of his thoughts (my paraphrasing):

1. It does nothing to relieve the constant hunger.

2. Over the many years he's practiced medicine, he's seen several restrictive surgeries come and go, and he said in Europe, where Lap Band has been used for several years, it is falling out of favor do to its less than favorable results.

After reading this message board, one of my concerns is the inability to drink fluids during meals. I can give up my diet coke addiction, my rare beer, and bread, but having no fluids during meals is going to be hard.

I also was under the impression that the surgery was much easier to reverse than it seems to be. I'm worried that like all the other diets I've tried, that I'll not lose, and I'll be stuck with the Lap Band.

I'm self pay, so I won't be needing a insurance authorization. My doctor's evaluation is scheduled for next month.

Thanks for reading ~ Kiz

Wow, you're right...maybe I should tell my doctor I've been drinking carbonated beverages...thay must have slipped my mind.

I had been torn in my decision at first between the Lap Band and the gastric bypass. My doc made a very good presentation for the bypass and said he was initially against the band. That day I told them I would have the bypass.

I went home and thought about it, prayed about it, talked about it and came to the realization that I really did want the band and that I had allowed myself to be swayed the other way.

My doc is relatively new to doing the band and stated that he, in the beginning of the band coming to America had been against it. I was also intrigued by the potentially faster weight loss of the bypass. However.....

I called them back the next day and told them to switch me to the band because a) the band is reversable, if needed; :behindsofa: the band will allow a bit slower weight loss thus allowing my skin to catch up; and c) this support forum. I found a forum for the bypass but was unsuccessful in finding support there. I have only been on this site a short time but love the interaction amongst fellow and soon-to-be bandsters.

I like that no matter how many times some "newbie" asks the same question someone will answer and help out.

The support here is motivating in itself.

I too am a "borderline" person concerning my BMI. If I lose even a pound or two I will be out of luck.

I am very excited about moving forward with getting banded. I, however, cannot make your decision for you, like the others have said. Only you can do that. I just know this is the right decision for me.

Research, research, research, then research somemore! Good luck to you!

Thanks for you input, benhamgirl. The doctor I first met doesn't even perform lap band surgery. He had preformed gastric bypass for two women I knew several years ago (mom and daughter). They highly recommended him. I didn't realize he only did the gastric bypass, which is fine, but his seminar was VERY one sided. I left thinking of giving up on lap band altogether, just as you did. However, I wasn't going to have gastric bypass; that's just too too invasive and altering for me to even wrap my mind around. I'd almost given up. This board has been a godsend to me. I've gotten SO much information and support from both newbies and veterans. I'm very thankful for my Internet addiction since it led me here ...lol

I appreciate your defense of bandsters here, but I for one, would like to hear both the positive and negatives of the surgery. If this person has a problem with the band, I want to know. I don't just want to hear the successes because then I'll be expecting a wonderful, no negatives experience. I want to be fully informed. :behindsofa:

Tina